Wrong Materialisation
by JSmith25
Summary: What if the TARDIS materialised in Sicily instead of No.1? Join the Doctor, Amy and Rory as they delve into the world of teenage prodigies, high-tech fairies and blood-thirsty demons.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_The Massimo Bellini Theatre, Sicily_

"How much time do I have?" asked Holly, as she faded from sight.

Artemis checked the stopwatch on his watch. "If you hurry," he said, "none."

Holly launched herself out over the audience, controlling her trajectory using the joystick build into the thumb of her glove. Artemis was wrong. There was time to stop this. All she had to was throw the shooter's aim off a little. The demon would never get anchored, and Section Eight could track these Mud Men at their leisure. It was simply a matter of touching the marksman's elbow with her buzz baton to make him lose control of all his motor functions for a few seconds. Plenty of time for a demon to appear, then disappear. Then Holly smelled burning ozone and felt an odd wind on her arm. Artemis was not wrong. There was no time. Someone was coming.

* * *

><p>"DOCTOR! What's wrong?" shouted Amy Pond, holding on to the console as the TARDIS rocked violently. Her husband, Rory, was doing the same to her right, while the Doctor danced around the console, trying to get the TARDIS under control.<p>

"I don't know!" the Doctor shouted back, hands flying over the zig-zag plotter. "A big hole just appeared in the Vortex and sucked the TARDIS down it."

Sparks burst from the console, narrowly missing Amy's face. "What, like a giant plug hole?"

"No, hang on, yes! Anyway, hold tight! Geronimo!"

All three occupants braced themselves for the impact...

_Thud._ The TARDIS had landed.

The Doctor cautiously opened one eye. Upon seeing that nothing was damaged, he opened the other. "Ok," he breathed, clearly relieved that everything was fine.

"Err, where exactly are we?" asked Rory nervously.

"I don't know, but there's no harm in looking. Come on!" the Doctor replied, jumping down the stairs and disappearing out the door.

Amy and Rory exchanged glances before quickly following him. Amy pulled open the door and was met by a theatre full of people. She had just enough time to register that the Doctor lay unconscious at her feet before she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

'Great,' she thought before she lost consiousness. Seconds later, Rory joined his wife and friend on the stage. A trapdoor opened and the three inert bodies and the TARDIS were soon hidden from the audience's view.

* * *

><p>Artemis was stunned. He was expecting a demon, not a blue 1950's Police Telephone Box and three humans. But there was no doubt about it, they had appeared, not the demon, but most importantly, they had been captured by his mysterious opponents.<p>

"Hmm," he said as a light fell from the ceiling onto the stage, providing a distraction for the audience.

Butler glanced at his young charge. 'Hmm indeed,' he thought.


	2. Waking in Strange Places

**Chapter 1 – Waking in Strange Places**

No1 slowly fizzled into existence in one of the TARDIS's many corridors, not that he knew that, of course.

"Oh, look, corridors!" gabbled No1 excitedly before promptly fainting.

* * *

><p>"Hold your position, Captain Short," advised Foaly the centaur. "We need to know what's going on here."<p>

"Why didn't the demon come through?" Holly asked, lying perfectly still on a luggage rack in the abductor's train compartment.

"I wish I knew, Holly," sighed Foaly, "But I haven't got a clue as to why a police box would enter the time stream and materialise instead of a Hybras demon. I say we just continue with the plan."

"I'll need back-up, though," whispered Holly. "How many agents can Section Eight spare?"

Foaly cleared his throat, but didn't answer.

"What is it, Foaly? What's going on down there?"

"Ark Sool caught wind of recent events."

"Sool! How did he find out about it so quickly?"

"He's got a source somewhere in Section Eight. He called in Vinyáya. She had no option but to hand over all the facts."

Holly groaned. "What's the word?" she asked.

"Sool is trying to distance the fairy world from this entire affair. As far as he's concerned, this is a human matter. He doesn't want this to boil into another Fowl Manor siege scenario."

"Politics," spat Holly. "Sool only cares about his precious career. So you can't send me anyone?"

Foaly chose his words carefully. "Not officially, no. I mean, it would be impossible for anyone, a consultant, say, to get to the surface carrying something you might need, if you see what I mean."

"Ten four, Foaly. I'm on my own. Officially."

"Exactly. As far as Commander Sool knows, you are returning home as soon as that opportunity presents itself."

Holly snorted. "Yeah, right."

* * *

><p><span>Several hours later...<span>

"Ouch," said the Doctor, opening his eyes. "Ok, theatre, pain, unconsciousness. Not the best way to start the day."

A big, dangerous-looking man got up from a nearby chair and snapped his fingers at a camera on the ceiling. "The bow tie guy's awake," he said. A couple of seconds later, a door opened and a blonde girl walked in.

"Hello. My name's Minerva Paradizo and this man is Mister Kong. Can you understand me?" she asked.

The Doctor looked her up and down. She didn't appear to be threatening, but he knew from experience that looks could be deceiving.

"Yes," he replied, realising that he was strapped against a chair. "English. So, I'm in England, but where?" he asked.

Minerva frowned. "English? I was speaking French," she said, switching to English.

The Doctor quickly realised that the TARDIS must be translating and tried to cover his mistake. "French, that's what I meant. French."

The man called Kong snorted, but the Minerva ignored him.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"The Doctor," the Doctor replied, now scanning the room for a way out; he didn't like the look of the big guy. To his delight, the TARDIS was standing in a corner not far away. If he could reach his sonic screwdriver, he could program the TARDIS to materialise over him, thus allowing him to escape.

"Doctor...who?" asked the girl, confused.

"Just the Doctor," he replied, before remembering Amy and Rory. "My two friends, where are they?" he asked anxiously.

"They're fine – for now. What I want to know is how you interrupted a scheduled materialisation. I was expecting a demon, not you, your police box and your two friends."

"Demon? You mean Daemon? The guys who in helped _Homo sapiens _kick out Neanderthal and have occasionally influenced your technological development for the last hundred thousand years? I didn't know they had scheduled materialisations, nor did I know that their existence was common knowledge."

Minerva looked thoughtfully at the Doctor for a moment before turning to the other man in the room, who had so far been lurking over her shoulder. "Mister Kong, could you please untie this man?"

The man called Kong hesitated. "I don't think that's wise, Miss Paradizo. He could be the police; that's what his box said, after all."

Minerva tutted. "Just do it, Mister Kong!"

Billy Kong reluctantly did what Minerva asked. '_I can't believe I'm taking orders from a little girl_,' he thought. '_Not long until she's out of the way, thankfully_.'

The Doctor was soon untied, and he stood up, stretching his arms. "Thanks for that. You'd think I'd be used to being tied up by now, but no. What century is this, by the way?"

Kong stared at him as if he were mad. But Minerva nodded her head, as if the Doctor's question confirmed a theory.

"What?" asked the Doctor, completely oblivious to Kong's incredulous look.

"How can a brainy looking guy like you not know what century it is?" asked Kong, grinning widely.

"I've had a stressful day, thank you," said the Doctor indignantly. "My friends and I had just visited Mars, oh, about ten thousand years ago. After a bit of a run in with the Ice Warriors, we left Mars and were on our way to the 67th century, to have a look at the aftermath of the Great Catastrophe, when a hole in the Time Vortex opened, and we found ourselves in a theatre."

Minerva looked thoughtfully at him. "So you travel in time quite often? I take it that the police box is your time machine?" she asked.

The Doctor cursed himself for revealing too much to this girl. Despite her age, she was clearly very intelligent.

"Yeah," he said slowly.

"Let me in," Minerva demanded immediately.

The Doctor sighed. He knew something like this was bound to happen.

"No," he said clearly.

Billy Kong leaned in, putting his face up close to the Doctor's. "You do exactly as Miss Paradizo says, or there'll be trouble. If you are the police, you'd better watch out," he said threateningly.

Minerva lost her temper. "Out, Kong, out!" she yelled, stamping her foot and pointing at the door.

Billy obeyed her, but not before giving the Doctor a very menacing wink. Minerva took a deep breath.

"Sorry about him; he's an idiot. I told my father not to employ him, but..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "One cannot dwell on the past. You wanted to see your friends?"

The Doctor was not fooled by this sudden change in attitude; it was obvious that Minerva was trying to get on his good side so that he would let her into the TARDIS.

"Yes, please," he said, answering her question.

Minerva took a two-way radio out of her pocket. "Bring in the two prisoners!" she shouted into it. Quick as a flash, while she wasn't looking, the Doctor fished out the TARDIS key, unlocked it, and was safely inside. A second later, Minerva looked up.

"What?" she said, astonished at her prisoner's disappearance. She looked around at the room, confused, before speaking into the two-way radio again, "Belay the previous order! Keep the man and woman secure. We have a possible hostile on the loose and we may need hostages_._" She then paused for a moment before running out the door.

* * *

><p>Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly set the TARDIS' controls for a silent dematerialisation and materialisation, before setting the co-ordinates for outside the building he was in. When Minerva re-entered the room a few minutes later, the Police Box had gone, leaving her to ponder the second major disappearance of the day.<p>

* * *

><p>Holly shimmered into visibility beside Artemis and Butler, who had been scouting the chateau.<p>

"I've contacted Foaly, and he's as confused as we are," she said. "He can't understand why a box materialised instead of a demon."

Artemis smiled. "Nor can I, Holly, but I wouldn't say that the demon didn't materialise," he said.

"Where's the demon, then?" asked Holly.

"In the box. Somehow, the box reached the materialisation point at the same time as the demon."

Foaly's voice rang out from Holly's helmet. "If that's the case then the demon will already have dematerialised. We don't have an emergency at all. We simply rescue those three humans, mind wipe them and send 'em home."

"I wouldn't count on it, Foaly. The fact that the box materialised is a mystery on its own. How do we know that the box doesn't stabilise the demon so that it doesn't continue on its voyage through time?"

Butler interrupted the conversation with a cough. "With all due respect, sir, but we still don't know what the box is."

"True, old friend, true, but there are a number of reasonable guesses."

Foaly's voice snorted. "Such as?"

"Well, for one thing, it could simply be a police telephone box that the demon held on to when it materialised at some point in the mid 20th century, and therefore was brought along when it dematerialised. It could also be a technological device from the future that was piloted back here by its human occupants."

Foaly grudgingly agreed. "That's easy enough to say, Mud Boy, but you won't be able to prove it."

"Why don't you just find out for yourself?" asked Holly, pointing to an object behind Artemis and Butler. They turned to find the Police Box standing there, with a faint humming emanating from it.

"Excellent," said Artemis, smiling.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Small Excerpts taken from 'Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony'.<strong>


	3. Formulating a Plan

**Chapter 2 – Formulating a Plan**

Back in the Chateau, Amy and Rory were desperately trying to free themselves from the ropes that bound them together.

"Where is he?" moaned Rory, his fingers beginning to get rope burn.

"I don't know!" answered Amy.

The door to the room where Amy and Rory were being held burst open. Amy and Rory quickly stopped what they were and looked up at their captor.

"Your friend and the box, where are they?" Minerva shrieked.

"How should we know?" Amy shot back.

"You could have accomplices that tracked us from Sicily," replied Minerva. She took out the two-way radio again and shouted more instructions into it.

"Search the grounds; make sure that the area is secure!" she said, before leaving the room, but neglecting to lock the door.

"That was close," whispered Rory once Minerva had gone.

"Telling me," said Amy, and they both resumed their efforts to free themselves.

* * *

><p>Artemis looked up at the blue box in front of him. "Curious," he said. "It seems to be made from wood, yet it's generating a humming sound that would suggest otherwise."<p>

Holly came forward, taking her Omnitool out of her pocket. "I'll use this to get inside," she said, indicating to the device in her hand. Artemis made way for her, and she put the sensor to the box's lock. Nothing happened. Holly frowned.

"Problems?" asked Artemis.

"Yep. Foaly, have you got this?" Holly asked the centaur.

Deep underground, the Section 8 tech-wizard wasn't greatly concerned. "Yes, but I'm not that worried," he replied.

"Why's that?" said Holly's voice.

"Well, if Artemis' theory about the box being a product of some future time, then it's logical that the omni-sensor won't work."

The conversation was interrupted by the door to the box being opened by a man wearing a bowtie.

"Whoa!" he said, shocked at the number of on lookers. "No guns, I hope, because I hate guns."

Foaly appeared by means of a 3D image on Holly's helmet. "A mud man?" he said surprised. Where are you from?"

"I came from the building over there," said the man, pointing at the Chateau. Butler and Holly immediately had their guns out and were pointing them at the man's chest. The stranger groaned.

"What did I say about guns?" he said, raising his hands in surrender.

Holly summoned up her remaining magic. "Who are you, mud man, and what do you know about the People?" she asked, voice tainted with the Mesmer.

The man blinked several times before answering. "I'm the Doctor. But people? _People?_ What are you talking about? This is Earth, right?"

Artemis coughed and stepped forward. "Holly, Butler, please lower your weapons; I don't think this 'Doctor' means us any harm. I'm Artemis Fowl the Second, by the way," he said, offering the Doctor his hand, which the Doctor subsequently shook.

"Ok, now I've said hello to you all – hang on!" the Doctor said, pointing a finger at Holly. "She's not human!"

Artemis sighed. "No, you're right she's not. You see –"

But the Doctor had already darted forward and was scanning an alarmed Holly with some sort of cylindrical device that emitted a green light and made a whirring sound.

"Hmm," the Doctor said, now inspecting the device. "Your DNA seems to be almost human, just different enough to register." He leaned closer, scrutinising every detail of Holly's face and helmet.

"Human-Zocci hybrid? No; you'd be red. Maybe you're some sort of mythological creature? Definitely not a dwarf, probably an elf, am I right?"

Artemis, Butler, Holly and Foaly's holographic image were shocked. How did this man correctly deduce what species Holly was?

"Y-yes!" spluttered Holly.

"Hang on – elf?"

Artemis interrupted before Holly could reply. "Yes. You see, Humans aren't the only sentient species on Earth, there is, in fact, an undiscovered civilisation underground."

"What, like the Silurians?"

Artemis frowned. "The Silurians? Are you referring to the Silurian period of 443.7 to 1.5 million years ago?"

The Doctor looked confused "No, I'm talking about the humanoid reptilian species. Anyway," he said, clapping his hands together, "I need to rescue my two friends who are unfortunately still inside the building."

Butler shook his head. "You're not going anywhere; they've got security running around the entire place. You'll never get through."

Artemis and the Doctor both started thinking of possible plans, but it was Artemis who spoke first.

"Ok. Holly, do you know anyone who would be able to sneak into the house and give Foaly access to the surveillance system? Obviously we'll need Mulch as well, but somehow I think he would be too conspicuous."

Holly mulled it over. "Well," she said slowly. "There is a certain pixie smuggler-"

She was interrupted by the Doctor. "No, I've got a better idea. Elf, or Holly, whoever you are, does that helmet of yours have thermal imaging?"

Holly nodded.

"Good. Now, I see that you've got wings, so I want you to fly above the house and do a thermal scan. Once I work out where my friends are I can just pop in and rescue them."

Artemis was curious. "How? By using your Police Box?"

The Doctor grinned. "Yep," he said, as Holly engaged her wings and took off for a flyover of the Chateau.

"Should we trust this human?" she asked Foaly via video-link.

"For the time being, yes," replied the centaur. "But I can't wait to have a proper conversation with him! He correctly deduced that you were an elf in record time, and did you see that cylindrical device of his? It scanned your DNA!"

"Great," muttered Holly. "Four geniuses."

"Genii, actually," answered a very smug Foaly.

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>"Finally!" exclaimed Rory as he and Amy freed themselves.<p>

"Let's get out of here and find the Doctor," said Amy, trying the door. To their delight, it was unlocked, and they were soon running down the Chateau's many corridors.

"This place is like the TARDIS; very easy to get lost in," muttered Amy as she rounded a corner and ran straight into someone.

"Well, well," said Billy Kong. "What have we here?"

Rory gulped. Things weren't looking good.


	4. Escaping!

**Chapter 3 – Escaping!**

No1 slowly opened his eyes. He had materialised somewhere, but where was somewhere? He groaned and sat up, looking around. He seemed to be in the middle of a long corridor, whose walls were lined with raised circles. He got up and started walking nowhere in particular, having lost all sense of direction. '_What is this place?_' he wondered, as he walked. The corridors seemed to be deserted, yet he thought he could feel a presence at the back of his mind.

"Hello?" the demon called out, hoping that someone could hear him. When no reply was heard, he continued walking, as that was the only option left to him. '_I may be doing this for some time,_' thought No1 as he came to a t-intersection. '_Why did I leave Hybras?_'

* * *

><p>Holly landed silently next to Artemis, having completed her thermal scan of the Chateau. The Doctor, who had been walking around in circles while waiting for the elf to return, immediately came forward.<p>

"Well?" he asked eagerly.

Holly didn't reply; instead she told her helmet computer to play the thermal scan file, projecting it as a hologram for all to see. The Doctor smiled as the file's contents showed Amy and Rory's heat signatures freeing themselves, but soon frowned as they ran headfirst into Billy Kong.

Artemis sighed. "It seems as if your friends' escape attempt has failed, Doctor. No doubt they will be taken back to their cell before having guards placed on duty at the door. I'm sorry, but I think that we should now revert to my original plan. Now, Holly, what were you saying about a certain pixie-"

"No need," interrupted the Doctor, pointing at the hologram. Amy and Rory had somehow managed to outsmart Billy Kong and were now running loose through the Chateau. Butler was impressed.

"Not many people slip past Billy Kong," the bodyguard said. "Your friends are very good, Doctor."

"Thanks, err?"

"This is Butler, my butler," said Artemis hurriedly. "But the situation hasn't changed at all. Your friends will soon be recaptured."

"Hmm," said the Doctor, and he mused silently for a couple of seconds. "Ooh!" he said finally, his eyes gleaming.

"What is it?" asked Holly.

"I'll need a phone and a lot of luck," replied the Doctor, looking expectantly around at the group.

"I'm sorry?" said Artemis, slightly confused

"I need someone's phone!" repeated the Doctor, a tad impatiently.

At Artemis' direction, Butler took out his iphone and handed it to the Doctor, who immediately whipped out his sonic screwdriver and held it over the phone. The green light lit up and the tip glowed green.

"What's he doing?" asked Foaly's voice in Holly's ear.

"I don't know; I think he's scanning Butler's mobile," Holly replied.

"With the same instrument he used to scan your DNA?" said Foaly. "Wow!"

The Doctor finished sonicking Butler's phone and immediately started dialling a number.

"What have you done to Butler's phone?" asked Artemis, intrigued.

"I've been extremely clever and enabled the 'Universal Roaming' Function," answered the Doctor, before putting the phone to his ear. "Hello, Pond," he said.

* * *

><p>"Come on!" shouted Amy, as she and Rory ran through the Chateau, dodging the occasional guard.<p>

"Err, where exactly are we going?" asked Rory, narrowly missing a vase.

"I don't know, I just hope the Doctor thinks of a plan soon!" answered Amy. No sooner then she said that then her phone rang. Not even slowing down, she took it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hello, Doctor!" she said, relief evident in her voice.

"Is it him?" asked Rory.

Amy nodded before turning back to the phone. "Of course it was going to be you! Now, do you have a plan?" she said, listening attentively to the Doctor's voice.

"Ok, try to get outside," she confirmed, before turning to Rory. "We need to get outside!"

Rory looked around desperately. "There's a door over there!" he said, pointing to a door at the other end of the corridor. A shot echoed overhead, and the duo instinctively ducked and turned to see Billy Kong running toward them, with at least three other security people behind him.

"Uh, run!" shouted Rory, and he and Amy took off towards the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked, and she ran out onto a thin strip of lawn that lay between the Chateau and a sheer cliff. Rory followed soon after, having locked the door from the outside.

"Ok, we're outside and between the house and a cliff. What do we do?" Amy said into her phone. She paled as the Doctor gave his reply before hanging up.

"What did he say?" asked Rory, noticing Amy's reaction.

"He told us to jump off the cliff," said Amy, as calmly as possible.

"He _what_?"

"Jump off the cliff, yeah," repeated Amy, and she went to the cliff's edge and looked over it.

"Yep, we definitely jump," she said again. Rory copied her actions and went to look over the cliff as well. He stared down seeing nothing but - BANG! Billy Kong and his men burst open the door and fired another few shots over their heads.

"Come with us, you two, you've got nowhere else to go," Billy said threateningly. "Or I'll make sure you don't leave this place alive, no matter what Miss Paradizo says."

"There's always a third option!" shouted Amy. Gathering herself, she looked over at Rory, who nodded. Amy closed her eyes so that she wouldn't see what was coming. Grasping Rory's hand, she took a deep breath, before jumping off the cliff with her husband, leaving only Billy Kong's startled shouts behind.


	5. Interrogation

**Chapter 4 - Interrogation**

Artemis, Holly and Butler watched, stunned, as the Doctor's two friends jumped off a cliff.

"I suppose you had a reason for telling your friends to jump off a cliff, Doctor?" asked Artemis, as the Doctor gave Butler his phone back.

"Reason? Of course I had a reason," said the Doctor, heading towards the TARDIS. "Now, it was nice meeting all of you – no, hang on," he said, turning back to the group. "Elf? _Elf?_ Since when have there been elves on Earth?"

Deep underground, Foaly made up his mind in an instant. "Knock him out, and I'll get Section Eight to send a shuttle to come and get you guys," he said into Holly's earpiece.

"And the police box?" asked Holly.

"We'll take that too," replied Foaly, rubbing his hands together. The thought of talking to this very technologically advanced person was very exciting.

"Right," said Holly, and she drew her gun, pointing it at the Doctor, who had been rambling on about time zones.

Artemis noticed her movement, and nodded. Holly pulled the trigger, and the Doctor collapsed.

* * *

><p>'<em>Where am I?<em>'wondered No1, who was still wandering aimlessly through the many corridors. '_Where am I?_'

* * *

><p>The Doctor groaned, his eyes flickering open. He was tied to a chair. Again.<p>

"Hello?" he said. No one answered, but a door opened and four humanoids and a centaur walked in to the room.

"Hello everyone!" said the Doctor, now fully alert. "Where exactly am I? And where's my police box?"

"We asked the questions here, human, not you," snapped Ark Sool, sitting down behind a desk.

"Alright, then, what do you want to ask me?"

"First off, who are you? How did you hijack a demon's materialisation?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. His captor in the chateau had asked exactly the same questions.

"First: I'm the Doctor. Second: since when did demons materialise?"

"Like I said, we ask the questions here!" thundered Sool, slamming his fist down on the table.

"Ok, ok!" said the Doctor hurriedly. "No need to over react!"

Foaly trotted forward. "With all due respect, Commander, it may be better if _I_ interrogate him."

Sool opened his mouth to argue, but remembered that Butler was in the room, so he shut his mouth quickly and nodded.

"Thank you," said Foaly, and he went up to the Doctor. "What's your name, mud man?" he asked.

"Mud man?" responded the Doctor indignantly. "Do I look like I'm made of mud to you?"

"We refer to humans as 'mud people'," said Sool. "It's what they deserve for polluting this planet."

"Anyway," said Artemis, stepping forward. "This man's name is the Doctor, Foaly, I already told you that."

Foaly snorted. "Yeah, like my name's LEP Tech Wizard. Come on. No one calls themself 'the Doctor'."

"Yeah, well, you're looking at the exception here," called the Doctor from his chair. "And would you be able to untie these ropes? They're cutting off circulation."

Foaly nodded at Holly, who quickly bent down and untied the Doctor. Sool was livid.

"D'Arvit! Why did you do that?" he asked.

Butler rolled his eyes. "You may have forgotten, Mr Sool, but I _am _in the room," he said pointedly.

"Oh, yes," said Sool faintly.

"Gentlemen, we seem to be getting a little side-tracked here," said Artemis. "Now, Doctor, I believe that Mister Foaly has several questions he wants to...what are you doing?"

The Doctor had got up onto his chair and was inspecting the light. "Amazing," he said, "I haven't seen a bio-bulb like this for ages..."

"Ah, you like my lights, do you?" asked Foaly eagerly. "A small phosphorescent organism is placed in the centre of the bulb. Its glow is amplified several million times by a series of mirrors and computer circuits."

"Hey there, little...creature! Do you like it in there?" said the Doctor, talking to the organism inside the bulb. "You know," he said, jumping off the chair, "It really is too bright in here; you could tone it down simply by reducing the output of the amplifiers," he noted reaching into his jacket and taking out his sonic screwdriver.

"What's that?" asked Sool sharply.

"Nothing, just a screwdriver," replied the Doctor, pointing it at the light. As soon as the bulb lit up and the whirring began, the light dimmed.

"How did you do that?" asked Foaly, curious.

"Simple, really," said the Doctor. "It uses a psychic circuit, so I basically point it at an object, and think what I what it to do."

"Amazing!" breathed Foaly. "A psychic circuit. Not even the People have technology sophisticated enough to do that. Is there a limit on what it can do?"

"Well," said the Doctor, looking slightly embarrassed, "it doesn't work on wood or deadlock seals, and there are some hair dryers..."

"You know what? We really need to talk," said Foaly, steering the Doctor towards the door. "Did I tell you about my iris cams?"

"Centaur, get back here!" yelled Sool.

"I agree," said Artemis. "It's quite obvious that this man knows nothing about demons, or at least, he's not going to tell us that he does. We need the mesmer."

The Doctor wasn't happy with this latest development. "Mesmer?" he asked, looking at Artemis. "Is that some form of hypnosis? Why would you need to – oh, you think I'm not telling the truth, don't you?"

"Yes," answered Sool. "And you're not going anywhere without telling us what you know of demons."

"Well why didn't you say that before? Daemons, easy. They hail from the planet Damos, which is about sixty-thousand light years from Earth. They've been influencing the development of humanity for the last hundred thousand years. There, done. Now may I go? I've got an appointment with some friends of mine who are currently falling off a cliff..."

Sool turned to Foaly. "Are you sure this mud man's completely sane?" he asked in Gnommish. "Cause this guy is the type who thinks he's been to Jupiter."

Foaly agreed. "Yeah," he snorted. "He's very...eccentric, to say the least?"

"Eccentric?" cut in the Doctor, causing Foaly to whiney with shock. "Of course I'm eccentric! What else would you expect from an old guy in a young man's body?"

"You speak Gnommish?" asked Holly sharply, in English. "But where did you learn it?"

The Doctor looked uncomfortable. "Well, let's just say that my police box possesses certain...qualities."

"A translator?" said Foaly. "For all you technological advancements, it takes you a whole box to build a translator circuit?"

"No, that's just one of the many things that my box can do. If you want the whole list, then you'll have to give me a plate of jammy dodgers. Oh, and don't forget the fez..."

Butler rolled his eyes. This 'interrogation' wasn't going to end soon.

* * *

><p>After wandering around endless corridors for hours, No1 finally came across something different.<p>

'_Whoa,'_ he thought as he gazed around the room. A central console dominated the centre, with an impressive column reaching up to the roof. No1 took in the majesty of it for a minute before noticing another door on the other side of the room. Not knowing where it lead, No1 quickly ran to it, opened it and stepped outside.

* * *

><p>The Doctor had talked Foaly and Sool into showing him where the box was. He was telling them his false story on how he found it in a junkyard in London in 1963.<p>

"...and so I now use it as a storage device for my scientific equipment," he finished. At that exact moment, the door opened and No1 stepped out.

"And demons," added Sool grimly, before turning to Holly. "Miss – err – Captain Short, please detain the mud man for subjection to the mesmer."

The Doctor was looking at No1 in shock. "So that's a demon," he said whirling around, only to see Holly's neutrino levelled at him yet again.

"No, no, no, I can explain!" he said hastily before he was stunned into unconsciousness for the second time in a day.


	6. More Interrogations

**Chapter 5 – More Interrogations**

No1 had been herded into room after room, and inspected by several different LEP scientists. The experience was very bewildering for someone who had spent the last seven hours wandering corridors. All this went through his head as he sat in a holding chamber with the Doctor unconscious beside him. No1 was intrigued by the creature. He knew it was human, but that didn't stop him from marvelling at the texture of the human's hair as he let it run through his own tough hands. The door opened, and the demon quickly withdrew his hair. No1 inspected this new arrival closely. It was at least a foot shorter than he was, and seemed to have some sort of helmet covering its head. Moving his eyes downward, No1 noted that the creature's slim figure suggested that it was female.

"Female. Fe-male," he burst out, "Fee-may-l."

He noticed that some writing was appearing on the front of the female creature's helmet.

'Hello,' the writing said. 'My name is Captain Short. I am an Elf, one of the five families of faries. If you understand this, nod your head once.'

He nodded, and more writing appeared.

'Good. Can you speak Gnommish? Shake your head once if no. Nod your head once if yes.'

No1 shook his head, but felt that he had to say something. Maybe this elf could understand demon.

"No, I can't speak Gnommish. Sorry," he said in perfect Gnommish. He was shocked. The gift of tongues. More evidence that he was a warlock.

The doors opened again and a horse-like creature trotted in.

"A centaur!" cried No1. "Relatives of the unicorns. You were the battle planners for the Fairy Army in the Battle of Taillte.

"Oh, he's good," said the centaur, extending a hand to the demon. "My name's Foaly. What's yours?"

"They call me No1," answered No1, nibbling Foaly's finger, as per demon custom. The elf removed her helmet, revealing a head covered in auburn hair which extended to her shoulders.

"Holly Short," said the elf, choosing not to offer No1 a handshake.

"Hello, Holly," replied No1 cheerfully. "Hol-ly. What a nice name you have."

Holly smiled. "Thanks, uh, No1."

Foaly interrupted them. "I think we can forget the niceties, because we have a job to do here. Firstly, No1, do you remember how you got off Hybras?"

No1 thought for a moment. "No, not really. One moment I was on the volcano, the next I was in a corridor."

Holly frowned. "Corridor? But you were in a box."

No1 shrugged. "That's just where I ended up. I walked around for hours before finding my way out."

Foaly was confused, and he could see that Holly as too. "OK," he said, moving over to the Doctor's unconscious figure. "Holly, if you could buzz him awake please."

"My pleasure," replied Holly, and she unclipped her buzz baton and hit the Doctor on the elbow. Nothing happened. Frowning, Holly flicked the setting up one notch and hit him again. Nothing happened.

"Try the highest setting, Holly," said Foaly, who had been keenly observing events.

"But that'll kill him!" protested Holly.

"So should the combined voltage of the doses you just gave him. Use the highest setting," repeated Foaly calmly.

Holly slowly flicked the dial up to 10, and hit the Doctor on the elbow. The reaction was instantaneous, and the Doctor sat up straight, eyes wide.

"What was that for?" he asked crossly. "I was asleep, wasn't I?"

Foaly rolled his eyes. "You were, but we needed you awake. This is the demon you kidnapped, is it not?" Foaly asked in English, indicating No1, who was spurting out words at random.

"No! How many times do I have to say it? I don't know what a demon is, unless you mean daemon, but I don't think you do."

"You're lying," said Holly.

"No, I'm not. Why does no one believe me? Is it my face?"

Foaly turned to No1. "Have you ever seen this human before?" he asked, switching back to Gnommish. No1 looked at the Doctor and shook his head.

"No, I've never seen him before, unless you count the period of time before Holly came in the room."

"You know, I can understand everything you're saying," said the Doctor. "Human, _honestly_," he muttered.

Foaly bent down and said something into Holly's ear. Holly nodded and walked up to the Doctor.

Taking a deep breath, she summoned her magic and projected it into her eyes and vocal chords.

"Doctor," she said, her voice layered with the Mesmer.

"Yes?" asked the Doctor in a bored voice.

Holly hesitated. How could he resist? Nevertheless, she continued. "Who are you really, Doctor. You only have to tell me, I promise no one else is listening.

The Doctor laughed. "No one else is listening, sure. Look, I really need to get back to my friends."

"Amazing!" breathed Foaly in awe. "It's like the Mesmer is having absolutely no effect on him."

Holly stopped the Mesmer and looked at Foaly sharply. "How is that even possible? Not even a fairy can resist the Mesmer."

The Doctor couldn't help boasting. "Well, my species were always very good at resisting hypnosis," he bragged.

"_Your_ species?" laughed Foaly. Humans have always been susceptible to the Mesmer...oh."

"Oh what?" asked Holly. No1 meanwhile, started repeating 'oh' over and over again, pronouncing it differently every time.

"I don't think he's human," stated Foaly simply.

"Then what is he, an alien?" said Holly.

"Yes!" answered Foaly excitedly, before turning to the Doctor. "What planet are you from? Mars? We've sent a couple of exploration probes there, and have found evidence of civilisation. Was that your civilisation?"

"Why does everyone think I'm from Mars?" the Doctor muttered under his breath, before turning to Foaly. "No, I'm not from Mars, but I can answer your questions concerning the civilisations there -"

Holly banged her fist on a desk. "Right, if we continue at this pace, we'll be here forever. I need a full explanation _now_," she said angrily.

"Ok, ok, I'm getting there," the Doctor replied irratibly, before sighing. "I'm a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. The police box is a time machine. I need to go back in time to rescue my friends, but it's kind of hard to do that when your day consists solely of being knocked out and revived."

Foaly was stunned. Time Lord? Gallifrey? He was about to ask the Doctor the first of a million questions, but then something rang a bell in his head. Time Lord. Time stream. Maybe the Doctor could be of some help yet.

"Holly, take No1 to Section Eight. I'll be right behind you with the Doctor," Foaly ordered.

"Me and my big mouth," the Doctor said gloomily as he followed Foaly out the door.


	7. Discussion

Chapter 6 - Discussion

Foaly led the Doctor to the Section Eight operations room.

"This room, Doctor, is the pinnacle of the People's technological advancement," he said proudly, gesturing to the room at large, where technicians were monitoring delicate instruments.

The Doctor seemed mildly impressed. "Not bad," he said, looking around. "I suppose all this is how you've managed to keep an entire civilisation a secret from me? I've been visiting this planet for centuries, but haven't even heard a whisper about elves and," he glanced at Foaly, "centaurs. Ohh, a plasma screen!" he said excitedly, and scuttled off to inspect it.

"Centuries?" asked Foaly, trotting over to where the Doctor was examining the screen. "How old are you, exactly?"

"That's a personal question!" the Doctor grumbled, not looking up. Foaly opened his mouth to ask again, but was cut off by Artemis, Holly, No1 and Butler entering the room.

"Not bragging about your inventions for once, Foaly," Holly smirked, seeing the silent centaur standing next to a plasma screen as the Doctor inspected it.

"I don't think there's anything to brag about, to be honest," Foaly replied. "The Doctor seems to know my own inventions better than me!"

"Yeah, well," the Doctor said. "When you're as smart as me, there's nothing you don't know." He paused. "Well, hardly nothing."

"How smart are you then, Doctor?" Artemis smiled. "I propose we have a chess match when this ordeal is over, just to see how intelligent you really are. Now, Foaly, you know the situation better than I, what's going on?"

Foaly cleared his throat. "Well," he said. "Basically, the spell that lifted the demon island of Hybras out of time is rapidly decaying, much faster than I thought. If we don't act soon, we could have hundreds of demons popping out randomly around the world."

"Causing mass hysteria among the human population, I take it?" Bulter asked.

Foaly nodded.

"So what do you want me for, then?" the Doctor asked.

Foaly thought for a minute before replying. "Well, to be honest, I don't know. You claimed to be a Time Lord, whatever that is, but I reasoned that your species has something to do with time. Am I correct?"

"Yes. The Time Lords are, well, essentially, gods. I won't go into detail, but at the height of their powers, they could achieve almost anything," the Doctor explained, with an undertone of bitterness that was not missed by anyone in the room.

"And your police box, you said it was a time machine?"

"Yes, but it can also travel through space as well."

"In that case, couldn't you go straight to Hybras?" asked Artemis.

"In theory, yes, but the TARDIS has a habit of not going where she wants to..." the Doctor replied.

"Are you saying you can't even fly your own machine?" Holly scoffed.

The Doctor didn't answer.

Artemis turned to Foaly. "Would it be possible to send a fleet of shuttles to Hybras, with the Doctor's machine leading the way?"

Foaly mulled it over. "Yes, but you'd need a demon to be touching every single one. And even if you got to Hybras, you'd still need to get back."

No1 who had been listening to the conversation with interest, piped up. "You still need to consider the fact that some demons won't want to leave. Leave, lea-vuh." He giggled.

Silence.

"Well, this complicates things a bit," Butler chuckled.

More silence, then –

"Oh, yes!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking excited.

"What is it?" everyone asked.

Before the TARDIS – my blue box – landed in that theatre, it fell through a gap in the vortex. No1 ended up inside the TARDIS, which materialised. That means that Hybras is somewhere in the Time Vortex! No1, how did you leave your island?" he asked the demon.

"The volcano," No1 replied simply. "Everyone goes there to get off the island. Why, what's so important about it?"

"The volcano's a Rift," the Doctor explained. Seeing all the blank looks, he elaborated. "From what Foaly's told me, a spell was cast that lifted Hybras out of time. That spell is decaying. Now, being as clever as I am, I've figured it all out. Foaly, you're wrong."

"Excuse me!" snorted Foaly, offended. "I - ."

"No, shut up and listen," the Doctor interrupted, stopping Foaly in his tracks. "The spell didn't lift Hybras out of time, it lifted it out of this three dimensional world into a fourth dimensional one – the time vortex."

"Err, I think you meant Time _Stream_, Doctor," Artemis corrected.

The Doctor paused, thinking of an argument. "No, I meant _Vortex_. 'Stream' implies that time flows in a linear progression, which it doesn't, it's more like a big bunch of wibbly wobbly timey-wimey stuff," he said vaguely, waving his hands around. "No, don't argue, I'm right, you're wrong."

Artemis closed his mouth, looking annoyed. The Doctor would have to be proven wrong, somehow.

"Now, I'm guessing that whoever made the spell –"

"Warlocks," interjected No1.

"Warlocks, fine," continued the Doctor. "Cast the spell in, at or around the volcano. The residual energy of the spell left a rift in time, a sort of portal between the vortex and the Earth. Now, for some reason, you say that the spell is decaying. While you're right in a sense, that's not really what's happening."

"What is happening?" asked Foaly in wonder. This Doctor person was smart, really smart. He'd have to find out what made him tick, one day.

"The spell was powerful, but the vortex is infinitely more so. The spell is breaking down due to the energies of the vortex itself. The whole island, the entire demon race, is in danger of being disintegrated unless we get in there, rescue them, and get out."

Butler whistled. "Let me guess, that's not going to be easy, right?"

The Doctor waved a dismissive hand. "'Course it's going to be easy! TARDIS, island, TARDIS, Earth. Job done, leaving me free to rescue my friends."

Holly shrugged. "Sounds simple enough, we just need to get a few hundred shuttles there as well, to get all the demons out."

"Why would you do that?" asked the Doctor, confused. "What's wrong with the TARDIS?"

Holly stared. "Are you kidding? Look at the size of it, it's tiny!"

The Doctor grinned. "Only on the outside," he said cryptically.

"Hang on," Foaly said slowly. "No1, didn't you say you were wandering around inside the box for hours?"

"Yes, that place is huge! It was lucky I found my way out at all," No1 said.

"There you go, problem solved," the Doctor said.

"How?" asked Holly.

The Doctor sighed. "The TARDIS, it's bigger on the inside. It could easily hold the entire demon population,"

Holly snorted. "Rubbish, nothing can be bigger on the inside, it's impossible!"

The Doctor grinned again. "Oh, yeah? Show me how wrong I am."

Holly briefly considered backing down, but forced herself to accept the challenge. "Alright, then," she said. "Lead the way."

* * *

><p><strong>Author Note: I just want to say that I am very sorry for the extremely long gap between updates. Hopefully, with my other story finished, this one will be updated regularly. I've also gone back and modified some of the previous chapters, so you might want to check them out too.<br>**


	8. Rescue

Chapter 7 - Rescue

The Doctor grinned. "Come on, then!" he said, and dashed out of the room, making a left turn down the corridor.

"Wait!" cried Foaly, galloping after him. "The lab's right!"

The Doctor turned sharply and started walking down the right hand corridor. "I knew that!" he said as he disappeared around the corner. Foaly, Butler, Holly, No1 and Artemis hastened after him.

When they got to the lab, they found the Doctor waiting impatiently outside the door.

"What took you so long?" he asked. "I've been waiting for ages!"

Foaly was astonished. "How did you find your way down here?" he asked. "This place is a maze!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Intuition," he replied, before taking out his sonic screwdriver and unlocking the door.

Foaly stared at the screwdriver, mouth hanging open foolishly.

Holly grinned. "Finally met your match, pony boy?" she asked as she opened the door and went inside, followed by the Doctor, Artemis, Butler and No1. Foaly shook his head, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like '_latest technology...worthless!_' and entered the lab as well, only to find the Doctor staring at the Section 8 Techies surrounding the TARDIS, who, judging by their equipment, had been trying to gain entry to the box.

Everyone froze and looked at the Doctor, expecting him to explode in anger, but instead, he just grinned.

"Well, that's not going to work. The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through those doors, so I doubt some primitive technology such as," he said, picking up an instrument and looked at it closely, "a plasma burner will enable entry." He tossed the plasma burner to one of the Section 8 techies, who fumbled it before dropping it.

"Primitive! Primitive!" whinnied Foaly in indignation. "I spent 6 months and half my budget developing that! It's one of the most highly advanced pieces of technology in all of Haven City!"

The Doctor turned to the TARDIS, fishing the key out of his jacket pocket. "That's no more advanced than the TARDIS is a box," he said dismissively, unlocking the TARDIS, opening the doors and walking inside.

"What's the supposed to mean?" asked Foaly, trotting in behind the Doctor. "I suppose it does depend on what you define – oh."

Foaly's unfinished sentence died in his throat as he stared around at the TARDIS console room.

"Come on, Foaly, what's the hold up?" asked Holly, pushing her was past Foaly's hindquarters and into the TARDIS. She too froze when she realised the extent of the TARDIS' interior dimensions.

The Doctor, who had been fiddling with the controls on the console, whirled around and grinned at Holly.

"I believe an apology is in order," he said, as No1, Artemis and Butler made their way into the TARDIS as well.

Butler gulped. "It's bigger on the inside!" he said in astonishment.

"After 900 years of travelling around in this thing, I'd noticed!" the Doctor chuckled. "No, shut the doors, will you? Dematerialising without the doors open would be very hazardous to our health, and would probably result in us being shrunk to about 6 inches in height.

Artemis did as instructed, then continued staring around the room, taking in the gleaming chrome and copper plates, the impressions on the wall, the stairs leading off into other parts of the machine, and most of all, the hexagonal console with a column connecting it to the roof.

"What is this place?" he asked breathlessly, eyes shining.

"It's called the TARDIS, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space," the Doctor called from the platform upon which the console was placed. "And are you lot going to stay down there, or are you going to come up here and watch?"

"Watch what?" asked Foaly as he eagerly clambered up the steps to the console platform. His eyes goggled as he took in the variety of controls on the console. "Wow," he breathed softly. "What do all these do?"

"That's the gyroscopic stabiliser, while that spinning, spiky ball is the atom accelerator, then we've got the spatial location input and..."

"Hang on," said Holly. "That's an old typewriter. We've got them in museums. If you're so advanced, why use ancient equipment?"

The Doctor looked at her indignantly. "Well, I can't always find what I need, so I jury-rig stuff. It works very effectively, so I don't see any reason to complain," he explained, before spying No1, who was in the process of fiddling with some controls. "Whoa, stop! Don't touch the helmic regulator!" he exclaimed, running over to No1 and pushing him away from the controls. "Mess with that, and who knows where we'll end up!"

"Sorry," No1 said. "I didn't realise –"

Artemis interrupted with a cough. "Excuse me, Doctor, I know that you enjoy showing off, but we really need to focus on the mission at hand."

"Yes, quite right, but first, we have to make one quick stop,"

"Weapons?" asked Butler.

"Nah, don't like them," answered the Doctor. "No, we've got to pick up some friends of mine who are currently falling off a cliff..."

* * *

><p><span>2 Days Previously...<span>

"Come on!" shouted Amy, as she and Rory ran through the Chateau, dodging the occasional guard.

"Err, where exactly are we going?" asked Rory, narrowly missing a vase.

"I don't know, I just hope the Doctor thinks of a plan soon!" answered Amy. No sooner then she said that then her phone rang. Not even slowing down, she took it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hello, Doctor!" she said, relief evident in her voice.

"Is it him?" asked Rory.

Amy nodded before turning back to the phone. "Of course it was going to be you! Now, do you have a plan?" she said, listening attentively to the Doctor's voice.

"Ok, try to get outside," she confirmed, before turning to Rory. "We need to get outside!"

Rory looked around desperately. "There's a door over there!" he said, pointing to a door at the other end of the corridor. A shot echoed overhead, and the duo instinctively ducked and turned to see Billy Kong running toward them, with at least three other security people behind him.

"Uh, run!" shouted Rory, and he and Amy took off towards the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked, and she ran out onto a thin strip of lawn that lay between the Chateau and a sheer cliff. Rory followed soon after, having locked the door from the outside.

"Ok, we're outside and between the house and a cliff. What do we do?" Amy said into her phone. She paled as the Doctor gave his reply before hanging up.

"What did he say?" asked Rory, noticing Amy's reaction.

"He told us to jump off the cliff," said Amy, as calmly as possible.

"He _what_?"

"Jump off the cliff, yeah," repeated Amy, and she went to the cliff's edge and looked over it. "Yep, we definitely jump," she said again. Rory copied her actions and went to look over the cliff as well. He stared down, seeing nothing but - BANG! Billy Kong and his men burst open the door and fired another few shots over their heads.

"Come with us, you two, you've got nowhere else to go," Billy said threateningly. "Or I'll make sure you don't leave this place alive, no matter what Miss Paradizo says."

"There's always a third option!" shouted Amy. Gathering herself, she looked over at Rory, who nodded. Amy closed her eyes so that she wouldn't see what was coming. Grasping Rory's hand, she took a deep breath, before jumping off the cliff with her husband...only to land safely in the TARDIS' swimming pool.

"Welcome back Amy and Rory!" the Doctor said excitedly, helping them out of the pool and giving them towels. "Get dressed quickly; we've got to save the demons."

Amy and Rory looked at each other, confused. Demons? What demons?

* * *

><p><strong>Author Note: Once again, sorry for the late update. Now that I'm on holidays I <span>should<span> be updating more regularly, but that's not a promise.**


	9. Planning

Chapter 8 – Planning

"Err, did you say _demons_, Doctor?" asked Rory, slightly put off.

"Yes, I did, Rory," the Doctor replied as he dashed out of the swimming pool. "Get changed and we'll explain the rest."

Rory turned to his wife, confused. "'We'll'? Who else has he managed to coerce into helping him?"

"Hmm, guess we'll find out later," said Amy. "Come on; let's get out of these wet things."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, the Amy and Rory entered the console room to find the Doctor, Artemis, Foaly, Holly, Butler and No1 debating the next course of action.<p>

"I say we just get in there, get the demons, and get out," said Holly, opting for the quick and easy option, but No1 shook his head.

"It won't be that simple," he replied. "Like I said earlier, some demons won't want to leave, especially Abbott?"

"Who's Abbott?" asked Amy, as she and Rory attempted to enter the conversation.

"Ah, good, Amy and Rory!" exclaimed the Doctor happily. "Everyone, this is Amy and Rory, my two friends. Amy, Rory, this is Artemis, Butler, an elf called Holly, a centaur called Foaly, and a demon called No1,"

"OK, said Amy slowly. "I thought elves and centaurs were all, you know, mythological and stuff."

"Not to mention demons," added Rory.

Artemis stepped forward. "I believe it may be prudent to explain that humans aren't the only intelligent species on Earth," he explained. "You see, elves, dwarves, centaurs, pixies, trolls, goblins and the like have been secretly living underground -"

"Yeah, we know," interrupted Rory. "They've been in hibernation underground since the dawn of time. Believe me, we're well versed in this sort of stuff."

Foaly whinnied. "Hibernation? We haven't even invented hibernation; it's only a concept that we enjoy watching in your sci-fi films!"

"Where'd you get the idea of hibernation from?" Holly asked curiously.

Amy looked at them, confused. "So you're not related to _Homo reptilia_, then, are you?"

"_Homo reptilia_? What on earth are they?" asked Foaly.

"Long story, don't have time for it," interjected the Doctor quickly. "Now, we were deciding what our plan was going to be."

"We could always scout the area, get a good position, wait for a demon to come by, then use a tranquiliser dart to knock him out, then bring him back here," suggested Butler hopefully.

Everyone shook their heads.

"It'd take too long," explained No1. "Not that I know the exact number of demons on the island, but I'd say there'd be close to a thousand."

"Come on, Doctor, you must have a plan," said Rory, turning to the Time Lord.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking, oh yes!" the Doctor said, eyes gleaming in excitement.

"What is it?" asked Foaly eagerly.

"What if we're going about this the wrong way? We're trying to get the demons off the island, so instead, why don't we try and get the island out of the Vortex? If I could somehow link the TARDIS to the island, I could, in theory, guide the island through the Time Vortex – and space, if necessary – once the Vortex has completely destroyed the warlocks' spell. That way, Hybras wouldn't appear in the universe at random."

Artemis frowned. "That's a good beginning, Doctor, but you're forgetting one thing. Hybras won't just disappear out of the Stream, err, Vortex, it'll break up and get disintegrated. And even if it didn't, the demons would still disappear off the island due to their lunar attraction."

"Looks like the Doctor's got some competition in the brain department here," Amy whispered to Rory, who chuckled.

"Hmm, yes, you're right," admitted the Doctor. "I need some way to extend the TARDIS force field around the island; that would stop the molecular disintegration of the island, and would also prevent the demons from disappearing off the island."

"Your force field can protect one from the energies of the Time Stream?" said Foaly. "What else can this fascinating box do?" he asked, eyes gleaming.

The Doctor grinned. "Quite a lot of things actually; unfortunately, since this is an extremely old model of TARDIS -"

"OLD!" breathed Foaly. "You say this thing is old!"

"- most of its functions aren't working, the chameleon circuit, for example..."

Butler coughed, and Holly rolled her eyes. The Doctor looked embarrassed.

"Err, yes, anyway, I need some way to extend the TARDIS force field."

Silence, then:

"Foaly, would it be possible to set up arrays to project the force field, sort of what you do with a time stop?" asked Artemis.

Foaly mulled it over. "Hmm, yes, I think I could do that. We'd need to get my equipment from the LEP storerooms; I didn't take any to Section 8. And providing that my equipment and the force field are compatible...yep, I think it could be done!"

Everyone turned to the Doctor, who grinned.

"That sounds like a plan to me," he said excitedly. "And it won't matter if your equipment isn't compatible, Foaly," he said, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "A quick sonic will fix that."

Foaly fainted.

"Whoops," said the Doctor, guiltily.

Holly smiled. "Don't worry," she said, looking down at Foaly's prone figure. "All this advanced tech that you've got made him a bit too excited."

"Ah," frowned the Doctor, before moving around the console, throwing levers and flicking switches. "The LEP storerooms – no, wait, what's the LEP?"

"Lower Elements Police," answered Holly. "Here, I'll help you with the co-ordinates.

"You have a police force?" asked Amy in surprise.

"Police? What's a police? Po-leece," added No1.

"What's with him?" said Rory, looking at No1, who was off on one of his sound-testing experiments.

"It's a side-effect of a materialisation," explained Artemis.

"Materialisation?"

Butler put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Don't ask. Seriously. Unless you want an endless explanation about things no one understands."

"Actually, we get that a lot," Rory said apologetically, glancing at the Doctor.

"Hmm," said Artemis, pursing his lips. "I'll have to have a big talk with your friend one day." He glanced down. "Is there anywhere we can put Foaly?"

"Here, come with me," said Amy. "Rory, you and uh?" She paused, realising she'd forgotten Butler's name.

"Butler," offered Butler.

"You and Butler lift him. We'll take him to the Stable."

"Stable? I've got to see this," said Artemis, and he followed Amy, Rory, Butler and Foaly's unconscious body into the depths of the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor, Holly and No1 in the console room, working out the co-ordinates of their next destination.


	10. Recruiting

**Chapter 9 - Recruiting**

Corporal Grub Kelp wasn't happy. Ever since he had inadvertently allowed Opal Koboi to escape from the Argon Medical Clinic, he had been shunted into guard duty, which was extremely ironic, as guarding something was exactly what he'd been doing when Opal had escaped. That fact didn't seem to bother Ark Sool, and so Grub found himself in the depths of the LEP Headquarters, sitting outside a room that was never likely to be needed. As such, Grub entertained himself with a pair of video goggles, in an attempt to pass the long, isolated hours.

"Hey, Grub," said a voice from behind him.

Grub raised the video goggles and glanced behind him. "Hey, Captain," he replied, returning to watching the goggles. "My shift finally over?"

"No, unfortunately," replied Holly Short as she approached the door to the storeroom. "I just need to get some stuff outta here. Foaly's orders."

Grumbling, Grub made to stand up, before something clicked.

"Hang on, Holly," Grub frowned. "You resigned, so how did you get down here if you're a civilian?"

Holly opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the Doctor bursting out of the invisible TARDIS behind her.

"Come on, we don't have enough time!" he said, fishing his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

"Argh, a mud man!" Grub yelled, toppling backwards over his chair. By the time he had managed to unwind his legs from the chair, Holly and the Doctor had disappeared inside the storeroom. Grub, showing a rare display of initiative, opened a channel to Police Plaza. Ark Sool's face filled his visor's display.

"What is it, Coporal?" Sool barked.

"I've, uh, got a situation here, sir," Grub replied. "Cap-err-Holly Short and a mud man have broken into the storerooms down here."

"That mud man – did he have long hair swept to the side of his face?"

"Yes he did, sir."

Sool clenched his fist in anger. "D'Arvit! Miss Short must have decided to spring the mud man, steal Frond-knows-what and make a break for it. Bring both of them in Corporal; use any means necessary!"

"Yessir!" Grub said as Sool terminated the link. Drawing his Neutrino 3000, Grub slowly made his way to the storeroom door –

"...no time to lose!" The Doctor exclaimed as he charged through the storeroom door, flinging it open, accidentally causing it to whack an unfortunate Grub Kelp in the nose.

"Oof!" said Grub as he hit the ground, and he rubbed his nose ruefully as the Doctor and Holly seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"What in Frond's name?" Grub said in astonishment, before a gust of wind blew over him, and a wheezing, groaning sound began. Grub may have been very confused, but that didn't stop him having the suspicion that the mud man and Holly Short had got away. Sighing heavily, he re-opened the channel to Police Plaza.

"Coporal Kelp here. I'm afraid to say that they got away..."

As he talked, Grub rubbed his nose. It seemed a bit out of place, perhaps it was broken! Those doors were made of hard stuff. Maybe he should write another complaint to the LEP in his time off.

* * *

><p>"Did you get them?" asked Artemis as the Doctor and Holly entered the TARDIS, breathing heavily.<p>

The Doctor held up a bunch of radar-like dishes. "Yep, I think so; Holly knew what they were supposed to look like. Is Foaly awake yet?"

"Yes, but he's still a bit shaky," Artemis said. "All this technology of yours has given his brain an information overload."

"Are you sure it's not just extreme amazement?" Holly asked, grinning, as the Doctor dropped his dishes and started running around the TARDIS console, pulling levers and flicking switches.

"Where to now?" asked Holly as the TARDIS' characteristic wheezing, groaning sound began.

"Hybras," the Doctor replied. "Time to meet the demons."

"Not just yet, we need to make another stop first," said Artemis, blushing slightly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Holly.

"What's that?" she said, grinning. "Is the mighty Artemis Fowl blushing?"

Artemis turned his head in embarrassment. "We need to pick up a girl."

"Ha!" exclaimed Holly, elbowing Artemis' side

The Doctor frowned. "What for, and where?"

"We need another genius, one who managed to avoid detection by the LEP. Minerva Paradizo, the one who kidnapped you in the first place."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he nevertheless proceeded to alter the TARDIS' destination.

* * *

><p><span>Meanwhile, at the Paradizo Chateau...<span>

Kong began flipping his knife, catching it without so much as a glance at the blade. End over end it twirled, a silver fan in the air. Hypnotic.

"I'm making it simple. I think you _can_ find that man who appeared in the theatre, and I think you can do it in less than four months. With your intelligence, it should be easy to track him down. So, here's what I'm going to do." He leaned down and heaved Juan Soto's chair upright. The security chief slumped forward onto the table.

"I am going to hurt Mister Soto. Simple as that. There is nothing you can do to stop that happening. This is a demonstration of my earnestness. It connects you with the reality of your situation. And then you know I mean business. So, after that you start talking. And if you don't start talking, we move on to lucky contestant number –"

Kong broke off as a faint wheezing, groaning sound began to emanate from around them. "What the hell is that noise?" Kong growled, shoving Soto's unconscious body aside. He glared at Minerva. "If this is one of your tricks, we might just move on to lucky contestant number too any-what the hell?"

Billy stared in amazement as the room they were standing in slowly faded away, only to be replaced by another, larger room lined with round indents and copper plating.

"Everyone, get down now!" commanded a voice, snapping Kong out of his reverie. Without hesitating, Kong turned and threw the knife in the direction of the voice.

"You'll have to do better than that, Kong," the voice laughed, batting the knife aside with a Sig Sauer handgun.

Kong's eyes narrowed as he recognised the speaker. "Butler. _The _Butler. I've always wanted to meet you, if only to see which one would come out of a fight on top." He grinned. "Wanna go now? Here, wherever the hell 'here' is."

"Stop, stop!" shouted a man, running to stand between Butler and Kong. "No fights, in here, ever. No guns, either. State of Temporal Grace, you can't shoot any weapon inside here."

Kong rolled his eyes, drew a pistol and fired a shot at the roof.

"Then again," the man said, annoyed. "It could just be a clever lie that I made up. But it's worked before!"

"Yeah yeah, kiddo, now shut up and let the real adults here do the –" He broke off, recognising the man. "Actually, mister, I want you to come down to me now."

The man paused, frowned, pointed at himself and mouthed the word 'me'.

"Yes, you!" Kong said impatiently, and held his pistol to Minerva's head. "And you better make it quick, or the girl gets it."

This was too much for both Minerva and Butler. The former burst into tears, while the latter to a threatening step forward.

"Let her go, Kong," Butler growled menacingly.

Kong shrugged and cocked the pistol.

"Wait, wait!" the man cried urgently, fiddling with some controls on the console next to him.

"Doctor, you have no idea how dangerous this man is!" Butler said. "I would advise-"

"It's alright Butler, I just needed some time to do _this_!" the Doctor replied, flicking a switch triumphantly.

"What the?" said Kong, a split second before he was enveloped in a golden light.

Butler breathed a sigh of relief as Kong's figure froze in place. "What did you do, Doctor?" he asked, pocketing his Sig Sauer.

"Oh, nothing much, just placed him in a personalised Time Lock; he'll be fine once I turn it off."

Minerva drew a shuddering breath. "Thank you, whoever you are. This imbecile," she pointed at Kong, "was about to murder a man if I didn't obey him. But why did you come back? After all, I did kidnap you."

The Doctor frowned. "That was good timing then, wasn't it? Good job, old girl," he said, patting the console. He turned to Minerva. "To answer your question, a certain Artemis Fowl requested your presence. Apparently, we need your help on the quest we're about to embark on."

Minerva gasped in surprise. "Artemis Fowl?" Where is he?" she asked, stepping up onto the glass platform the console was positioned on.

"Currently, he's in the stable, trying to convince a centaur that he's not worthless. Just go down the stairs, take the first right, second left, past the swimming pool, ride the elevator to the negative-fifth floor, then the stable's the third door on the right."

"First right, second left, past the swimming pool...right, got it," Minerva said, and she left to find the teenage genius. '_What on earth have I got myself into now?' _she asked herself. '_Something big, no doubt!_'


	11. Hybras

**Chapter 10 - Hybras**

_Thud._

"Right," the Doctor said, turning from the TARDIS console. "Now that we're on Hybras, we need a plan."

"Well, since No.1 has lived on Hybras for almost all of his life, I suggest he stays here and directs the rest of us – assuming of course, that this remarkable machine of yours has some communication devices." said Artemis.

"Got just the thing!" the Doctor said happily, and he ducked underneath the console, opened a compartment, and withdrew several pairs of what looked like ordinary reading glasses.

Holly raised an eyebrow. "Glasses? For all your technological advancement, you're giving us _glasses_?"

"Ah, you see, they may _look_ like glasses, but they're not really. I can link them to the TARDIS' scanner screen," he patted the television-like device suspended above the console, "allowing me and No.1 to see everything you do."

"Pardon me if I don't exactly explode with amazement," cut in Foaly. "But I feel like this is the time to say that I've already developed something far superior – the iris cam. It's a mechanical contact lens that can zoom in, has different filters including x-ray, and can read your vitals."

Amy giggled, causing the Doctor to shoot her a look before scowling. "I bet they can't send and receive sound," he huffed.

Foaly sighed, defeated once again by the Doctor's superior technology. "Shall we call it a draw?" he offered. He'd have to work on adding a microphone to the list of gadgets crammed in the iris-cam – the reliance on an earpiece to relay sound was a major problem when partaking in covert operations, as shown during the Spiro Needle operation.

Holly smirked.

"Moving on," Artemis said quickly, taking a pair of the glasses. "We have eight dishes, and there are nine of us. However, since the Doctor and No1 need to remain behind to oversee operations here, that leaves only seven -"

"Six," interrupted Minerva. "I think Mister Foaly should remain too, as he is the only one who really knows how his equipment works, and by staying in here, he can be with all of us at once."

Foaly scratched his chin. "That is a good idea; I could stay here and help the Doctor control the power feed and maintain the effect, but I need a link back to the TARDIS, in order to activate them."

"No problem," said the Doctor, tapping his jacket just hard enough that the soft 'tink' of the sonic screwdriver could be heard.

"There's one thing we haven't considered yet," said No.1 hurriedly, as Foaly looked as though he was about to faint again. "Knowing Abbot, the leader of the demons, we'll probably encounter some sort of resistance against us placing the dishes, and most likely against the dishes themselves, once they've been placed."

"I think we should split up," commented Butler, his combat experience coming into play, "into two groups, with one person who actually understands the technology in each group, with the rest acting as bodyguards."

"An excellent suggestion, Butler," said Artemis. "I shall, of course, go with you, while Holly, would you mind looking after Minerva?"

"Hey," said Rory. "What about us?"

Butler frowned. "I don't think you two should come, you'll be too much of a liability."

"Well, that's where you're wrong, mister," said Amy confidently, walking up to Butler and poking him in the chest. "Rory's the Last Centurion; he waited two thousand years to make sure I was safe. So I'm telling you: we're going."

Butler sighed and relented, he wasn't going to stop the two kids if they wanted to throw themselves into danger. '_Just like Artemis,'_ he thought with a small chuckle.

"In that case, we'll split into three groups, Butler and I; Minerva and Holly; and Amy and Rory," Artemis said.

"But Amy doesn't know anything about the People's technology," Holly pointed out.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," said the Doctor, looking up from sonicking the dishes. "She's very resourceful, and with both Foaly and I giving her instructions, she'll figure it all out."

Holly looked as though she wanted to argue, but Artemis tapped her on the shoulder.

"We have to trust their judgement, Holly. Who knows what they've been through before now?" he said gently

Holly paused, then nodded.

"Now," said Minerva, "about protecting the dishes once we've placed them, am I correct in thinking that it would be possible to siphon off a little of the dish's own output and channel it around itself, thus protecting it?"

Foaly wagged a finger at the French girl. "You're sharp, mud girl, I'll give you that! Yes, with the right calibration, what you said should be possible; I'll start the calibrations right now." He trotted down the stairs and joined the Doctor in fiddling with the dishes, his hindquarters almost coming into contact with Billy Kong, who was still stuck in the mini Time Lock.

"Watch it!" the Doctor called. "Touch him, and you get stuck in the Time Lock too!"

Foaly backed nervously away from Kong's frozen form. Once he was a sufficient distance away, he bent down and began calibrating the dishes.

Amy had a sudden thought and moved closer to Rory. "You should probably go and get changed, dear," she whispered into Rory's ear.

"Oh no, not the Roman stuff," her husband said, his cheeks going red.

"Of course; the Last Centurion needs to strike fear into the hearts of the demons...not to mention look very hot for his even hotter wife."

Rory nodded. "Point taken," he said. "I'm just, uh, getting changed," he announced to ther others, and he walked off to the TARDIS' wardrobe as fast as he could without running, trying to appear inconspicuous to the rest of the TARDIS' current inhabitants.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS' door creaked open. Rory's head emerged to look around at a surprisingly green landscape; grass covered the ground, and a few trees were dotted here and there. Above him, the sky glowed with the reddish hue of sunset.<p>

"It's alright, it's safe," he called, stepping from the TARDIS. Moments later, Amy, Artemis, Butler, Holly and Minerva emerged behind him.

"_Mon dieu!"_ Minerva breathed in shock, looking back at the TARDIS' police box exterior. "It is the police telephone box from Sicily! But how can its interior dimensions be so much bigger than the exterior ones?"

Rory placed a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, you really don't want to know," he warned. "Ask the Doctor, and you'll end up drooling and nodding your head; nothing he says he never makes sense."

"To you," Minerva said simply.

"To anyone, actually," he replied pointedly.

"Mmm," said Minerva, "I'll have to prove you wrong about that."

Rory shrugged, a gesture which Minerva interpreted as meaning 'on your head, be it'.

"So, tell me again: why exactly is Rory dressed up as a roman?" Holly said, looking at Rory as though he were mad for dressing in such clothes.

Rory blushed. "It's what Amy calls my 'tough costume', she makes me wear it when she wants to impress or intimidate people."

Holly nodded condescendingly, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Hmm," mused Artemis. "I've found that my suits are very effective at intimidating people. I think it's something to do with the designer brand."

"Oi!" Amy said, swanning over to her husband and pecking him on the lips. "This is his fashion sense at its best."

"My dad would disagree, you know," Rory said as he went in for another kiss.

"Oh, come on, Ponds; how do you two even breathe!" the Doctor said, emerging from the TARDIS to dump the receiver dishes unceremoniously on the ground. Tapping his companions on the shoulder to get their attention, he said, "Put your glasses on now, and I'll just check to make sure everything's working." He entered the TARDIS.

Artemis, Minerva and Amy obeyed.

"Hello, hello, can everyone hear me?" The Doctor's voice was emitted from tiny speakers in the glasses' rims a moment later. "'Cause I can see you. Well, not see you exactly, more like I can see what you're seeing. And hear what you're hearing too. And what you're saying, when you start talking. But you won't know what I'm saying unless you can hear me, so: can you hear me?"

Amy grimaced apologetically at Amy and Minerva. "He does that a lot," she whispered.

"What was that, Pond?"

"Nothing," she said innocently as Holly rolled her eyes. "We can all hear you. Crystal clear."

"Good."

Foaly's voice replaced the Doctor's. "Okay, you've got to place five receiver dishes to place, and if you want to do it without attracting the demons' attention, you better get going. Unfortunately, since there are only three groups, two of you will have to take two..."

"I'll take the extra ones," Butler volunteered immediately, and he walked over to the pile of receiver dishes and effortlessly lugged three of them over his back.

"Mister Foaly, is there any particular shape the dishes should form; a pentagram, perhaps?" Minerva asked.

"Normally, yes," the centaur replied. "But this time I'm not sure...Doctor?"

"Oh, just walk in a direction until you find the edge of the island, then just dump the dish there; that'll be fine. Only don't fall off the edge, who knows where you'll end up...or when," the Doctor warned. "Or if you'd even survive the trip..."

Silence.

"Time to go, then," said Holly awkwardly. "Minerva and I'll go north. Amy, you and Rory go east; Artemis, you and Butler can go south-west, south-east and east."

Artemis sighed. "That's a lot of walking," he noted.

"Hey, don't go for all I care," said Holly, shrugging. "But this is a team effort, if you don't go, the probability of us failing increases."

Artemis decided that now was not the time to explain that he preferred working alone.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor, No.1 and Foaly watched the retreating forms of their friends on the scanner screen.

"I hope they manage to get the job done," No.1 said worriedly. "If Abbott finds out about all this, he could be a big problem."

"They'll be fine," the Doctor said reassuringly, clapping a hand on the young demon's shoulder. "Now, is there a place where the spell keeping Hybras here is the strongest?"

No.1 bit his lip, thinking. "That would be the volcano," he said eventually. "That's where the lunar attraction is the strongest."

"Too easy!" the Doctor cried, releasing the TARDIS handbrake, then running madly around the console, flicking switches and pulling levers. "Just a short hop and," he pushed the handbrake into the 'on' position, jumped down the stairs and flung open the doors.

* * *

><p><span>A Few Minutes Earlier...<span>

Leon Abbot returned to his own chair at the head of the lodge. The chair was high-backed and made from various animal parts. He settled into it, paddling the armrests with his palms.

"I love this chair," he said. "Actually, it's more of a throne than a chair, which brings me to our main business here today." Abbot reached under a leather flap in the chair and pulled out a roughly fashioned bronze crown.

"I think it's about time the Council declared me king for life," he said, fixing the crown on his head.

Most of the Council had been mesmerised by Abbot so often and for so long that they accepted the suggestion as if it were a royal decree, but some of the younger ones shuddered with violent spasms as their true beliefs wrestled with this new repugnant idea. Their struggles didn't last long. Abbot's suggestion spread like a virus through their conscious and subconscious, subduing revolution wherever it was found.

Abbot adjusted his crown slightly. "Enough debate. All in favour, say _graaargh_!"

"GRAAARGH!" howled the demons, battering the table with gauntlets and swords.

"All hail King Leon," prompted Abbot.

"ALL HAIL KING LEON!" mimicked the Council like trained parrots.

The adulation was interrupted by a faint wheezing, groaning sound. Abbot frowned. Where was that noise coming from?

Then, despite everything he'd experienced in his life so far, his jaw dropped. For right in front of him, at the other end of the lodge, a blue box was materialising into existence. Abbot and the Council watched in amazement as the box solidified in time with the beat of the wheezing, groaning sound, which was growing steadily louder.

_Thud_.

The noise stopped; the box didn't move.

Abbot and the other demons continued staring at the box in shock when the doors opened.

"The volcan – oh," the human trailed off.

Silence.

Abbot was amazed. Since when did humans have technology so advanced they could travel to Hybras and appear out of thin air? They certainly hadn't been able to do that when he'd been flung ten thousand years into the future; this human and his box must be from an even further point in their future.

"What's going on down there?" a voice called from inside the box.

"Well, um, I think I made a...slight error in the navigation system..." the human replied, wincing.

This was enough for Abbot to regain his composure.

"HUMAN!" he roared, pointing at the man standing in the doorway of the box. "Kill it!"

"Graaagh!" cried the enthralled Council, and they grabbed their gauntlets and swords charged towards the defenceless creature.

The human's eyes widened and he quickly stepped back and shut the blue box's doors. Seconds later, the wheezing, groaning sound began again, and the box vanished.

"Assemble the tribe and search the island, where there's one human, there's always more!" ordered Abbot.

"Graaagh!" shouted the Council, and they ran out of the lodge, waving their weapons madly.

Abbot clenched his fist. So, the humans had finally found Hybras, had they? Well, he, Leon Abbot, saviour of demonkind, wasn't about to let them take control of the island. He stroked the hilt of his sword. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Smiling evilly, he whipped off his crown, replaced it in its compartment under his throne, and followed the Council out of the lodge.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> small excerpt taken from _Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony._


	12. Placing the Dishes

**Chapter 11 - Placing the Dishes**

"Stupid Doctor!" the Doctor cried, slamming the TARDIS doors shut and running up the stairs. "There's a scanner for a reason, maybe you should use it sometime!"

"What's the matter?" Foaly asked.

"You know how I said we'd end up in the volcano?" the Doctor said.

"Yes..."

"We didn't end up in the volcano."

"The demons know we're here, don't they?" No. 1 guessed.

"Oh, fine, focus on the negatives!" the Doctor scowled, releasing the handbrake. The TARDIS shuddered into flight before halting with a thud a second later. He reached over and flicked a switch, turning the on the big, round screen next to the doors. "Is this the volcano?"

The young demon nodded, recognising the cold, desolate landscape covered in miserable grey ash. "Yep."

"Right then, just need to get some stuff from the storeroom," the Doctor said, rushing off down the stairs and turning left at the corridor.

Foaly picked up the TARDIS' telephone and pushed a button that linked him to the communication glasses the others were wearing. "Hello?" he said hesitantly. Despite what the Doctor said, he wasn't sure everyone could hear him.

"Hi," replied the others.

Foaly rubbed his hands. "Okay, team, good news. We're at the volcano, and are just about to set up a focusing device that will act as a transmitter for the TARDIS' dematerialisation signal, effectively meaning that, with the help of the dishes, the TARDIS will dematerialise the whole island –"

"Excuse me," Holly interrupted, her voice crackling over the TARDIS PA system. "But would you mind speaking English?"

"He's saying that the TARDIS is going to take the island with it as it leaves," Artemis offered.

"No, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor cried, dashing back into the console room carrying a big box full of equipment. Swiping the telephone off Foaly, he spoke into the receiver. "I'm going to set up a kind of beacony thing that will extend both the TARDIS' forcefield and its outer plasmic shell."

"Which means?" Butler asked.

"That the whole island will become the TARDIS," the Doctor said, grinning. "Literally, the entire island will be inside the police box."

"Is that even possible?" Amy said.

"Sure it is, just input some calculations and away we go. That or I materialise the TARDIS around the island, but I don't want to risk that."

"Why no -"

"Doctor? Holly and I have reached the edge of the island," Minerva said, cutting Amy off.

"Ah, good, excellent," the Doctor said. He lowered and turned to Foaly and No. 1. "Can you guys start setting this stuff up?" he said, awkwardly transferring the box of equipment to Foaly. "Anywhere within thirty metres of the TARDIS will be fine." Lifting, the phone again, he caught the end of Minerva's sentence.

"...keeps changing. One minute it's a vacuum cleaner tube, the next it's a tunnel shaped void with streaks of blue, red and green."

"Oh, that's just the Time Vortex," the Doctor said dismissively. "It's always changing. Now, you'll need to start setting up that dish, and you'll need to get Foaly to help you. Foaly...who I just sent out to start building that beacony thing. Foaly!" he shouted, dropping the phone and running out of the TARDIS.

* * *

><p>Holly sighed, hearing the Doctor's shout over her glasses' speakers. "He's very absent minded," she noted drily.<p>

Minerva chuckled. "Oui, he is rather. I think that is because he so smart. Smart people are known to be that way."

"You're not, and neither is Artemis."

Minerva shrugged. "Only some people are like that. There are other ways that one's intelligence expresses itself."

With nothing more to say, Holly fell silent and looked around the island. Much to her surprise, the area they were in was quite lush, with plenty of foliage to provide cover. There were even a few insects flying around. But a couple of metres beyond where they were standing, the greenery abruptly ended, giving way to the empty void that was the Time Vortex.

"Alright, Holly, I've isolated both your channel and the Mud girl's, so let's get to work."

Foaly's voice crackled to life over the speakers.

"'Bout time," Holly grumbled. "You do as he says," she said to Minverva, "and you might want to complement him about three times every minute too. I'll stay here and cover you."

"I'm going to ignore that complement comment and focus on the bigger task at hand," Foaly huffed. "Okay, mud girl. First things first. Put the dish on the ground, as close as possible to the edge of the island. Make sure the concave side is facing inwards toward the island."

Minerva glanced worriedly at the black space. "Are you sure, Mister Foaly? I don't want to fall off."

"Just go as far as you feel comfortable," Foaly said kindly.

Minerva swallowed and began pushing the dish closer to the edge. After five minutes of continuous exertion, she stopped, breathing heavily. The dish now lay two metres from the edge.

"You know, you could have just picked it up," Holly said casually. "They're not that heavy, and it would have been easier than pushing it through the dirt, grass, leaf litter and tree roots."

Minerva glared at Holly.

"Oh, is that why you took so long?" Foaly asked innocently. "I went looking for a carrot."

"Mister Foaly, if we could move on...?" Minerva fumed.

"Alright, alright, don't tear your hair out," Foaly replied. "Right, I need you to go round the back and open a small maintenance hatch."

"Okay," Minerva breathed as she scrambled behind the dish. She scanned the dull, grey metal for a moment before spotting a faint rectangular outline, that of the maintenance hatch's door. There was a small hole within the area enclosed by the outline, and she tried to pry her fingernails into it to get it open.

_Click_.

The catch released and the door swung open.

Minerva frowned. "I was expecting something more technologically advanced, Foaly, magnetic screws at the least."

"Eh, they're old," Foaly said, unconcerned, "but they work better than most Koboi gear on the market, and we've never seen any reason to replace the maintenance hatch doors of all places."

"Yes, alright, enough with the tech talk, just get the thing working," Holly snapped. This whole business about saving the demons was making her tetchy. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Yes, quite right," Foaly agreed. "Now, mud girl, everything you see is wireless, and decades more advanced than any wireless technology you've ever seen -"

"Except the maintenance hatch," Minerva cut in.

"- so you're going to have to listen very carefully," Foaly continued, ignoring her comment. "Now, we want to make the dish siphon off some of its energy and create a force field around itself-"

"An actual force field?" Holly said, eyebrow raised. "Since when have we invented force fields?"

Foaly sighed. "We haven't, Holly, but I like to call it that anyway. Makes things simpler for everyone who doesn't understand the sort of science we're dealing with here."

"So in other words, everyone but you."

"Yes, Holly, everyone but me. If you must know, what we're going to do is reverse the polarity of some of the batteries the warlocks put their magic into. The Doctor's sonicking has already set the parameters for where that magic goes, so presto, force field."

"The magic creates an impenetrable barrier? Is that even possible?"

"It is in theory, but no one's ever tried it."

"Great," muttered Holly. "We're trialling some new technology on one of the most important missions we've ever been on."

Suddenly, the box crackled and sparked, and Minerva's head appeared, her hair standing on end. "I think I've done it," she said smugly.

"Rubbish," Foaly scoffed. "Only I know how to reverse the polarity of batteries without using any wires of any kind. What did you do?"

Minerva shrugged. "A circuit is a circuit no matter whether it uses wires or not. I simply found what looked like the circuit that controlled the flow of magic to the dish, then reversed it."

Silence.

"Foaly?" Holly tapped her glasses, hoping that the TARDIS' signal hadn't cut out. "Foaly, are you there? Did she do the right thing?"

"Yes," Foaly said quietly, his breath causing Holly and Minerva's speakers to crackle. "She was right. You're one sharp mud-girl, Minerva."

Minerva tried unsuccessfully not to look too smug.

Holly breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright what do we do now?"

"Just need to turn it on – there should be a switch marked ON and OFF. In Gnommish, of course."

Holly walked over to the dish, bent down, looked at the maintenance hatch, then reached across and flicked a big switch. Immediately, the dish began humming as it was activated. Blue energy emanated from the maintenance hatch and pushed Holly and Minerva back, before it soon stopped, forming a protecting dome around the dish. Holly reached out and punched the dome with all her might, but the 'shield' held.

"Is it working?" asked Foaly. "'Cause Amy and Rory are ready to position theirs now, and I don't want to leave them waiting."

"It's working," Holly confirmed. "We'll head back to your position now. Can you send me the co-ordinates?"

A moment later, her helmet beeped, and the TARDIS' location was uploaded to her extremely small map of the island. Unfortunately, she encountered some bad news while glancing at her map.

"D'Arvit!" she cursed. The hostiles – probably demons – were almost on them. "Can you run?" she asked Minerva.

The girl nodded.

"Good," Holly growled, and she grabbed Minerva's hand and sprinted back into the trees.

* * *

><p>"You know, I really must ask the Doctor how his remarkable machine works," Artemis commented as he and Butler walked through a peaceful field, very close to the tree line. . Rabbits scampered upon seeing them and a few bees and butterflies took flight as the flowers they were resting on were trampled by the two humans.<p>

Butler sighed. "I thought you might say that," he said. He readjusted his grip on the final of the three dishes he had volunteered to carry; Artemis had already successfully activated the other two in record time. Butler had originally suggested that he contact Foaly and ask the centaur how to do it, but Artemis had scoffed, saying that anything Foaly could do, he could do to. Butler had had his doubts, but was eventually proven wrong.

"I am intrigued by technology, you know that," Artemis continued. "The TARDIS is so sophisticated that I'm not sure whether either human or fairy technology will ever be able to match it."

"I'm sure we will eventually," Butler said. "It's surprising what difference a few centuries makes. Only one hundred years ago space flight was thought impossible.

"True, my old friend, true," Artemis conceded. "But being able to make something bigger on the inside seems unachievable even by today's scientific projections."

"If the Doctor's people could do it, then so can we," Butler said firmly.

Artemis had no more to add to the conversations, so they walked in silence for a few more minutes. Butler's training and responsibilities prevented them from entering the woods completely for fear of being ambush, and it also prevented them from walking out onto the field, where there was no cover from attack at all. Walking near the tree line was the closest thing to a compromise. He still couldn't relax, though, and he kept a vigilant eye out for any attempt at an ambush. He was reasonably sure that the demons didn't know they were on the island, but it didn't hurt to be on the lookout – after all, it was possible that someone else had alerted the demons to their presence. No, he wasn't going to let the mission be jeopardised by not looking after his young charge.

They soon reached the end of the island, and Artemis wasted no time in opening the maintenance hatch and doing whatever we needed to do. After doing it twice before, he quickly had the dish up and running, it's 'force field' protecting it from harm.

"Okay, Butler, it's time to return to the others," he said, standing up and dusting himself off. "Butler?"

But his bodyguard had gone completely still, and was staring straight ahead, back across the field.

"Demons," Butler whispered. "They're hiding in the grass."

"Are you sure?" asked Artemis, just as a crossbow bolt sunk into the ground at his feet.

"RUN!" shouted Butler, and he grabbed Artemis' hand and bolted for the tree line. Crossbow bolts whizzed past their heads, some embedding themselves in the ground, others flying right off the island itself, disappearing into the ever-changing void of the Time Vortex.

"We have to get to the volcano!" Artemis said. "I need to stop and get my bearings!"

"If you stop, you'll be killed," Butler snapped. "We need to keep moving."

They continued running for a few more minutes, dodging trees, ducking under branches and jumping over rabbits until Butler skidded to a halt. The onslaught of crossbow bolts had ceased. They were now deep into the forest.

"That demon attack doesn't make sense!" Artemis stated, as soon as he had recovered enough breath to speak. "It would have been more strategically viable for them to attack while we were working on the first and second dishes – in the woods. Why attack now?"

"Perhaps they only just realised we were here," Butler suggested, scanning the trees. He wasn't convinced that the demons would give up that easily.

"I think they've known where we were for some time," Artemis replied, sitting down on a rock. "If my hypothesis is correct, and they waited until we'd activated the third dish to attack, then something's wrong. During the Battle of Taillte, the demons formed the main body of the fairy army, the cannon fodder, if you will. They were often slaughtered because of their lack of military strategy – they would often simply charge at the enemy. Only the demon warlocks could grasp the fundamentals of formations, diversions and other strategies, but their numbers were so few that they were snatched up and used for the overall battle planning, leaving the general demon population to die rather stupidly. So..."

"So why do they now show evidence of strategy?" Butler finished.

"Exactly. As far as I know, there's only one demon warlock left, and we know exactly where he is."

Butler finished surveying the nearby landscape for demon activity. Satisfied that he and Artemis were alone, he turned to the teenager. "Rest time's over, Artemis. We've still got to get back to the volcano."

"You're right, of course," Artemis replied. "But do we have to run?"

Butler smiled. "Only if we're lucky."

"We usually are," Artemis remarked drily.

* * *

><p><strong>Author note: Another chapter done, and just in time for the new year! We're almost at the climax of the story, so it shouldn't be much longer before the story's completed.<strong>

**Replies to reviews:**

**General E: Thanks!**

**Kina Kalamari: Glad you liked the chapter! And sorry about the wait, but better late than never, I suppose.**

**TheBigCat: It's getting there...slowly!**

**8ret: That should be about 17,000 words now! ;)**

**aronpuma: Yeah, I tried to show how good they are at adapting to situations that are out of their depth. I mean, let's face it, how many humans have encountered centaurs, elves and demons and just shrugged it off? Thanks!**

**Bright Eyes Illusionist: Chess match will appear towards the end, and there will be a definite victor (no draw)! No real action this chapter, I'm afraid, but the big show down will be in the next one, so that's when Rory, Butler and Holly get to be awesome! **

**robodude22: Yeah, there's a few good quotes in the story!**

**Guest: Yes, that ending is quite amusing, in it's own way.**


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